Guys,

When you travel with SAA from the USA, do they consider your firearms as part of your ordinary free baggage allowance or do they give you an additional free baggage allowance and consider your firearms as 'sporting goods'?

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
Guys,

When you travel with SAA from the USA, do they consider your firearms as part of your ordinary free baggage allowance or do they give you an additional free baggage allowance and consider your firearms as 'sporting goods'?

Considered as porting goods on my 4 rides with them. Hope it stays that way.

sorry, I don't know what you mean by 'porting goods'?

The reason I ask is that here in SA they tell me that they consider my rifles as part of my free baggage allowance. - In other words, as the rifles take up pretty much all of that free allowance, I then get hit for excess baggage for pretty much everything else I take...... and it bugs the hell out of me when I see guys checking in things like golf clubs or surfboards which are considered 'sporting goods' and they get the extra allowance.......

Steve,

I think "porting" is just a typographical error for "sporting".
My rifle case has always counted as one of my allowed bags on SAA. I have never been allowed an extra checked bag because one of them was a gun case.
I hope this answers your question.

Bill

Doh, one pair of large ears for Robinson please! -

I wonder why there seems to be this anomoly between firearms and golf clubs etc. The firearms have by law to be classified as sporting firearms anyway due to international aviation laws. Why therefore are they not considered sporting goods and eligeable for the extra sporting goods baggage allowance?

Does anyone know if SCI or any other hunting organisation has tried to do something about this matter?

you can go to their website at ww4flysaa.com and look it up but basically, if you fly economy, you get 2 bags weighing no more than 20kg per bag and one carryon.Your gun case is one of those bags. If you are flying business or first you have added weight allowance or if you are in part of the frequent flyer programs and are rated high enough you have added weight. There are size limits as well as weights that apply before you pay added baggage or oversize penalties.